My mum taught me to eat quality chocolate, and that is very important! She also taught me self-control, which I seem to have lost as I go through copious amounts in an attempt to boost myself, because I’m a mum now too, and it’s exhausting!

Mum, how did you even do this?! Teaching a child even the so-called simple tasks of going to the toilet, tying shoelaces, brushing teeth and eating your dinner (rather than throwing or spitting it everywhere) has me in absolute awe of my mum, who was so patient, gentle and selfless with me.

My mum is the most hospitable person I know. We sometimes have to tell her to stop offering us cups of tea or glasses of water because, "Seriously Mum, we're fine." This has flowed through to me. Mum taught me how to nourish people when they walk into my home, to see a need and help, to prepare my spare room for friends with joy and a neatly folded towel on the corner of the bed and some fresh flowers from the garden on the bedside table. Not everyone does that. My mum does. And so do I, now, too.

I am so grateful for this woman I call mother – the one who birthed me and taught me and loved me… and still does, fiercely, to this day. She's certainly a diamond, enduring all sorts of pressures to reveal the beauty and wisdom she holds now.

by Jess Counsel

*These are not photos of Jess and her mum but another lovely mum and daughter.